Scale for upright pianos

ABSTRACT

A scale for upright pianos adapted to provide improved tonal quality and volume is disclosed, in which the bass scale includes the strings corresponding to at least four notes at the low end of the treble scale in a conventional piano. The bass strings and the four treble note strings are positioned parallel to each other and extend diagonally across the piano scale at approximately a 45* angle with respect to a horizontal reference line to obtain maximum string length without increasing the overall piano size, and are supported by a pair of bass bridge sections disposed therebeneath. The first section of the bridge is in the form of a continuous curve and is adapted to receive all of the bass strings, and the second section is of irregular shape disposed approximately perpendicular to the first section and receives the strings corresponding to the four treble notes.

United States Patent 1191 Paglla'ro 15 1 SCALE FOR UPRIGHT PIANOS :7/1930 Betz ..84/l97 Primary Examiner -Richard-B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-Lawrence. R. Franklin Attorney-Lawrence S. Lawrence i Q) 4- s .......,..\.m.. .w. n

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[45]Marcli 20, 1973 [5 7] ABSTRACT A scale for upright pianos adapted to provide improved tonal quality and volume is disclosed, in which the bass scale includes the strings corresponding to at least four notes at the low end of the treble scale in a conventional piano. The bass strings and the four treble note strings are positioned parallel to each other and extend diagonally across the piano scale at approximately a 45 angle with respect to a horizontal reference line to obtain maximum string length without increasing the overall piano size, and are supported by a pair of bass bridge sections disposed therebeneath. The first section of the bridge is in the form of a continuous curve and is adapted to receive all of the bass strings, and the second section is of irregular shape disposed approximately perpendicular ing'to the four treble notes.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures SCALE FOR UPRIGHT lPllANOS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Piano makers for many years have sought means to improve the tone and volume of conventional size upright pianos in an effort to produce the musical quality of a grand piano at substantially lower cost, and without increasing the size of the piano. To accomplish this, pianos were designed having bass strings extending diagonally across the piano scale overlaying the treble strings. With this arrangement the length of the bass strings were greatly increased and the tonal quality of the piano was somewhat improved. Examples of such pianos are shown in U. S. Pat. Nos. 9,301; 327,439; 1,769,284 and 2,199,211.

Unfortunately, pianos of the type disclosed in the above patents have never received wide acceptance because the sound that they produce does not in fact have the musical quality of a grand piano and is often not at all superior to that of a conventional upright piano. The reason for'this deficiency seems to lie in the fact that there is a definitive break in the tonal characteristics between the notes at the high end of the bass scale and the low end of the treble scale. In other words, there is an audible transition in moving from the notes on the treble scale to the notes on the bass scale and vice versa. All of the above patents utilize the same type of string arrangement that is in widespread use in conventional upright pianos; that is notes in the bass scale and 58 notes in the treble scale. In most upright pianos the low end of the treble bridge is positioned in veryclose proximity to the edge of the sounding board and the string hitch pins, so that the lowest of the treble strings cannot vibrate the sounding board to its full extent, and thus accounts for the poor quality sound transition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention an improved piano scale for upright type pianos adapted to produce the approximate tonal quality and volume of a grand piano is provided which overcomes the inherent deficiencies found in prior pianos of this type.

This is accomplished by providing a scale in which the bass strings are positioned diagonally to obtain increased length, and the strings corresponding to at least the four lowest treble notes in a conventional upright piano are positioned in the bass scale adjacent and parallel to the bass strings, so that the bass scale produces 34 rather than 30 notes. A pair of bass bridge sections support the strings of the bass scale and transmit the vibrations produced thereby to the sounding board inwardly of its edge. One of the bridges supports 30 bass note strings and the other bridge supports the remaining strings corresponding to the four treble notes. Both bridge sections are positioned sufficiently away from the string hitch pins and the edge of the sounding board, so that the sounding board vibrates to its full extent to produce improved musical tones. This avoids an audible transition between the notes at the low end of the treble and high end of the bass scales and provides for a smooth unnoticeable transition.

As used herein the terms bass scale" and bass strings" include all strings which correspond to the 30 conventional bass notes and the conventional treble strings which are positioned parallel thereto, unless otherwise noted.

In general, the piano scale of the present invention comprises, in combination, a rigid vertically disposes string plate; a sounding board spaced apart from the string plate; an array of substantially parallelspaced apart treble strings corresponding to no more than 54 treble notes, said strings being adjustably attached to the string plate and diagonally extending across the plate from top to bottom; a treble bridge attached to the sounding board and supporting the treble strings at an intermediate point adjacent the lower end thereof; an array of substantially parallel spaced apart bass strings corresponding to at least 34 notes, said bass strings being adjustably attached to the string plate overlaying said treble strings and diagonally extending across the plate from top to bottom at an angle of about 40 to 50 with respect to a horizontal reference line, so as to achieve a maximum possible length of said bass strings; and first and second bass bridge sections attached to the sounding board and supporting the bass strings at an intermediate point thereof.

The first bass bridge section extends in a continuous smooth curve beneath and receives the strings corresponding to at least the lowest 30 of said bass notes in a manner such that each lower note bass string extends over longer distance than the adjacent higher note bass string. The second bass bridge section is disposed approximately perpendicular to the first bridge section and receives the strings corresponding to the highest four of said bass notes in a manner such that at least the lowest three of said strings extends over a longer distance than at least the adjacent five lower note strings on the first bridge section, and such that each lower note string extends over a longer distance than the next adjacent higher note string on the second bridge section.

The lower four notes in the treble scale of prior upright pianos are usually, in descending order from high to low, F sharp, F, E, D sharp. In the present piano, the strings corresponding to at least these four notes are positioned in the bass scale and are supported by the second bridge section. The second bridge section can be in the shape of an elongated S-curve or any other suitable shape provided it is adapted to support the above named strings such that the D sharp strings are longer than the E strings, the E strings are longer than the F strings and the E strings are longer than the F sharp strings. In addition, the bridge is positioned such that the D sharp strings extend over a longer distance than the adjacent D strings, which are supported by the first bridge section.

The combination of increased bass string length, the positioning of strings adapted to produce at least 34 notes in the bass scale, and the shape and position of the two bass bridge sections provides a tonal quality which is far superior to that of prior upright pianos.

The piano scale of the invention is more fully described with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. l is a plan view showing the string and bridge arrangement of the instant piano scale.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the piano scale taken along the lines 22 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The piano scale of the invention comprises a rigid string plate formed of cast metallic material, such as steel, iron or the like, which is adapted to secure thereon a plurality of diagonally positioned treble strings 11, and a plurality of base strings 12 overlaying the treble string and positioned on the opposite diagonal.

The plate 10 is generally rectangular in shape. with the exception of the scalloped sections 13 and 14 and circular openings 17, which are provided to lighten and strengthen the plate. Plate 10 is mounted vertically with horizontal edge 15 at the top within a conventional size, Le. 40 inches by 60 inches, upright piano, and is fixedly secured in place by means of a plurality of mounting bolts (not shown). The bolts extend through a corresponding plurality of mounting holes 16 formed along the entire periphery of plate 10, and are secured to a wooden piano wrest plank 21, which is shown in FIG. 2.

A flat sounding board 20 formed of 5/16 inch solid spruce wood is fixedly attached to the wrest plank 21 and is positioned thereby in a parallel spaced apart relationship with respect to string plate 10. The distance between the sounding board 20 and the string plate can be within the approximate range of about three-fourths inch to about 2 inches.

The treble strings 11 are triple strung (i.e., three strings for each note) and produce 54 notes in descending order from C to G, representing four octaves and five notes. The strings 11 extend across plate 10 at varying angles in the approximate range of about 50 to 90 with respect to the top horizontal edge 15. The higher the note of the string the shorter is its length and the steeper is the angle at which it is positioned. However, it should be noted that the improved tonal qualistrings are of considerably lesser length. In pianos of the instant type where the string plate can be made wider, the bass strings canbe disposed at a reduced angle with respect to the top horizontal edge to achieve maximum string length. However, the layout shown in FIG. 1 represents the maximum string length possible in conventional size upright pianos.

The bass strings 12 are secured at their lower ends by means of hitch pins 31 which are fixedly attached to the lower end of string plate 10. At their top ends the base string 12 are attached to a plurality of adjustable tuning pins 32, which are rotatably mounted in a well known manner at the top end of the string plate. A top bridge 33 is attached to string plate 10 adjacent the tuning pins 32 and is adapted to support bass strings 12 thereon. A plurality of upstanding pins 29 are provided on bridge 33 to maintain proper separation between ties of the instant piano scale can also be achieved with shorter treble strings, such as where all are vertically disposed. The treble strings 11 are fixedly attached at their lower ends to a series of hitch pins 22, which are secured within diagonally disposed rib 24 of string plate 10. At their top ends the treble strings 11 are attached to a series of adjustable tuning pins 25 which are rotatably mounted within the top section of string plate 10. Atop bridge 26 is attached to plate 10 adjacent the tuning pins 25 so as to support the strings 11. A pressure bar 27 is disposed over strings 11 between the bridge 26 and the tuning pins to insure that suitable contact will be maintained by the strings and the top bridge. A series of adjustable hold down screws 28 secure the pressure bar 27 in place and permit adjustment of the pressure exerted on the strings.

A lower treble bridge 30 is disposed beneath treble strings 11 adjacent their bottom end, and is secured to sounding board 20 to trans'mitthe string vibrations thereto to produce the musical tones. By arranging the treble strings in the manner described and shown'an even distribution of pressure from the strings over the entire sounding board is obtained, thus enhancing the quality of the sound produced by the piano.

The base strings 12 are double strung, except for the lowest 14 notes, and produce 34 notes in descending order from F sharp to A, representing three octaves, less two notes. The strings 12 extend from the top of string plate 10 across treble strings 11 at an angle of apthe strings.

A pair of bass bridge sections 41 and 42 are attached to sounding board 20 beneath the bass strings 12 at an intermediate point thereof adjacent their lower end. The first bass bridge section 41 extends in a continuous smooth curve and supports forty eight of said bass strings 12 representing the thirty lowest notes. Bridge section 41 is shaped and positioned such that the lower the note, the longer is the effective length of the string. Effective string length is the distance the string extends from its support point on the top bridge 33 to its support point on bridge 41.

The second bridge section 42 is of an irregular curved shape, resembling an elongated S-curve, and is positioned on the sounding board -20 approximately perpendicular to the end of the first bridge section 41. Bridge 42 supports eight strings of the bass scale representing the four highest notes, namely in ascending order from low to high (i.e., left to right in FIG. 1) D sharp, E, F, F sharp. Bridge 42 is positioned in a manner such that the lower the note, the longer is the effective length of the corresponding strings. In addition, the strings representing the D sharp, E and F notes extend over a longer distance than at least the adjacent five lower note strings on the right hand end of bridge section 41 as viewed in FIG. 1. 1

The positioning of the D sharp, E, F, and F sharp strings in the bass scale parallel to the other bass strings in the manner described provides a smooth musical transition from the treble notes to the bass notes inasmuch as the full vibration of the strings are transmitted to and amplified by the sounding board. In addition, the utilization of the second bridge section 42 is quite unusual in that it would be expected by those skilled in the art that merely continuing the curve of bridge section 41 so that it would support the remaining four bass note strings would provide suitable tone for the piano. However, it has been found that a conventional continuously curved bridge produces inferior sound quality, since it results in the shortening of the eight strings which are supported by bridge section 42. This would tend to defeat the purpose of positioning these strings in the bass scale.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the string arrangement described above can be slightly altered to achieve the desired sound quality in pianos of slightly different size or configuration. In addition, it should be noted that the two bass bridge sections can be formed as a unitary structure, providing the bass strings are supported in the proper positions to achieve the desired length relationships. Furthermore, although the invention has been described with regard to a single embodiment, it has been found that the strings representing at least the lowest two notes of the treble scale shown in FIG. 1 can also be positioned in the bass scale and supported-by bridge section 42 to obtain improved musical qualities. Other modifications within the scope of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The key board and corresponding action assembly of the piano in which the above described scale is disposed are of the conventional type and need not be described in detail.herein. Various typesof action assemblies and hammers to strike the strings can be employed with the piano scale of the invention. Such arrangements are quite well known in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. In apiano of the upright type having a key board and a corresponding action assembly, a scale adapted to produce improved tonal quality and volume, comprising, in combination, a rigid string plate, a sounding board spaced apart from the string plate; an array of substantially parallel spaced apart treble strings diagonally extending across the plate; a treble bridge attached to the sounding board and supporting the treble strings at an intermediate point thereof; an array of substantially parallel'spaced apart bass strings adapted said treble strings and diagonally extending across the plate from top to bottom at an angle of about 40 to 50 with respect to a horizontal reference line so as to achieve a maximum length of said bass strings; and first and second bass string bridge sections attached to the sounding board and supporting the bass strings at an intermediate point thereof.

2. A piano scale according to claim 1, in which the first bass bridge section is in the form of a smooth continuous curve and supports the strings corresponding to at least the lowest 30 of said bass notes; and the second bass bridgesection is in the form of an irregular curve disposed approximately perpendicularly to said first bass bridge section and supports the strings corresponding to the highest four of said bass notes.

3. A piano scale according to claim 2, in which the four notes roduced by the strings supported by the second bn ge section are in descending order from high to low, F sharp, F, E and D sharp.

6. A piano scale according to claim 5, in which the second bridge section is shaped and positioned such that the D sharp strings have a longer eflective length than the E strings; the E strings have a longer effective length than the F strings; and the F strings have a longer effective length than the F sharp strings.

7. A piano scale according to claim 6, in which the D sharp, E and F strings have a longer effective length than the adjacent five lower note strings supported by the first bridge section.

. at k a: r a 

1. In a piano of the upright type having a key board and a corresponding action assembly, a scale adapted to produce improved tonal quality and volume, comprising, in combination, a rigid string plate, a sounding board spaced apart from the string plate; an array of substantially parallel spaced apart treble strings diagonally extending across the plate; a treble bridge attached to the sounding board and supporting the treble strings at an intermediate point thereof; an array of substantially parallel spaced apart bass strings adapted to produce at least 34 different notes, said bass strings being adjustably attached to the string plate overlaying said treble strings and diagonally extending across the plate from top to bottom at an angle of about 40* to 50* with respect to a horizontal reference line so as to achieve a maximum length of said bass strings; and first and second bass string bridge sections attached to the sounding board and supporting the bass strings at an intermediate point thereof.
 2. A piano scale according to claim 1, in which the first bass bridge section is in the form of a smooth continuous curve and supports the strings corresponding to at least the lowest 30 of said bass notes; and the second bass bridge section is in the form of an irregular curve disposed approximately perpendicularly to said first bass bridge section and supports the strings corresponding to the highest four of said bass notes.
 3. A piano scale according to claim 2, in which the second bridge section is shaped and positioned such that the lower the note, the longer is the effective length of the corresponding strings supported thereby.
 4. A piano scale according to claim 3, in which the strings supported by the second bridge section corresponding to at least the lowest three notes have a longer effective length than at least the adjacent five lower note strings supported by the first bridge section.
 5. A piano scale according to claim 2, in which the four notes produced by the strings supported by the second bridge section are in descending order from high to low, F sharp, F, E and D sharp.
 6. A piano scale according to claim 5, in which the second bridge section is shaped and positioned such that the D sharp strings have a longer effective length than the E strings; the E strings have a longer effective length than the F strings; and the F strings have a longer effective length than the F sharp strings.
 7. A piano scale according to claim 6, in which the D sharp, E and F strings have a longer effective length than the adjacent five lower note strings supported by the first bridge section. 